No change to Galaxy Tab 10.1 strategy, insists Samsung

Over the weekend we wrote about widely reported comments from Samsung vice-president Lee Don-Joo that Apple had essentially changed the tablet game again with the launch of the iPad 2, and voicing concerns that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was too bulky, and too expensive.

Well, perhaps he didn't realise how closely the world's press was listening, or maybe he was simply caught with his PR trousers down, but Samsung has now swept in with another statement saying plans for its forthcoming tab are still very much on schedule.

Don-Joo's initial comments had suggested Samsung was considering returning to the drawing board with the Galaxy Tab 10.1, noting just how thin the iPad 2 was, and suggesting Samsung would need to address its new tablet's “inadequacies”.

He also suggested a price rethink was on the cards too, given that Apple has stuck with the same attractive pricing structure as on the original iPad, rather than loading up the slate with expensive new tech.

But, reports AllThingsD, Lee Don-Joo has now returned to the same Yonhap News Agency that reported his initial comments to clear things up.

“We will continue to make every effort to provide the most powerful, well-designed and productive mobile device to customers,” he said in what was clearly a well-rehearsed soundbite. In terms of exactly when that device would be provided, the Samsung man wasn't saying, but did make it clear that the release plan for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 hasn't been changed.

However, the comments are interesting in what they didn't say. While it does seem fairly clear now that some kind of radical design or spec rethink isn't going to happen, there was no denial that a shift in pricing strategy isn't underway.

That could potentially mean a slight softening in some of the more negotiable spec items in order to achieve a more competitive price point that doesn't completely gouge Samsung's profits.